Mason laughed. “You realize I’m the older brother, right? I’m the one who’s supposed to worry about you.”
Katie was silent for an extended breath. “We’re family. We all worry about each other.”
Mason’s throat threatened to close on him, and tears pricked at the back of his eyes. Colt gave his hand a squeeze, love radiating from him in waves that made Mason feel like he was floating. How did he get to be so lucky? His dreams were coming true after all. He dipped his head as his vision blurred and kissed Colt’s knuckles.
“K, gotta go,” Mason said to Katie. This time, the ragged sound of his voice wasn’t from all the screaming he’d done the day before.
“Love you too,” she said and hung up.
Mason returned his phone to the bedside table and then crawled halfway into Colt’s lap and rested his head on Colt’s knee. Colt carded his fingers through Mason’s hair, the gentle massage heavenly. He hummed his pleasure.
“So, we’re settled, then,” Mason said. “You’ll stay?”
“If my brothers are happy with that plan, then yes, I’ll stay.”
Three Months Later
Colt’s hands shook.
“Here, let me,” Mason said, grinning, as he stepped up behind Colt and centered the bolo tie around his neck. It was black leather with a silver circular slide pendant. Inside the pendant was a horse head, mane blowing in the wind, and a turquoise feather. Mason had matching bolo ties custom-made for them, the only difference being Mason’s was bronze with a jade feather. They also had matching collar tips—Colt’s with a turquoise stone and Mason’s with jade.
Colt watched him in the mirror, still unable to believe this was his life now. So much had happened since he’d been hired to protect Mason. He and his brothers all lived on Haverstall Mountain Ranch again. Something he’d never thought would happen in his wildest dreams. Levi had moved into one of the ranch houses that was near the barns and main residences, wanting to be closer to people, and Wes took one of the cabins farther out. They’d all settled in seamlessly, as though there had never been a twenty-year gap.
Colt and his brothers still ran Stonebraker Security. His brothers took the out-of-town jobs, while Colt preferred to work remote logistics and investigations from home and occasionally help Nick Chambers. He said it was because they needed to operate from a base, but the reality of it was that he hated being away from Mason for more than a few days at a time.
“You’re like a teen getting ready for prom,” Mason teased, drawing him back to the present. “It’s a fundraiser.”
Colt met Mason’s eyes and smiled. Mason didn’t know it yet, but Colt had a secret plan for later tonight.
But first, the Hayes family was hosting a fundraiser organized by Katie and her now fiancée, Angela, to raise money for Mason’s equine rescue and wild horse sanctuary, as well as awareness for the plight of America’s wild horses and the network of sanctuaries that gave them soft landings and a semblance of their stolen freedom back.
They had been working on setting up the greens behind the dining hall for the event all week. They’d brought in tables and chairs, built a dance floor, and outfitted a flatbed hay trailer to create a stage. They had ten-foot posts put in at the corners of the designated event area and strung soft white lights diagonally from post to post. A forty-foot event tent with two side walls, also lit with string lights, had been erected to display the fundraiser items for sale and silent auction. Half a dozen heat lamps had been placed around the site to ward off the early fall chill.
“There you go,” Mason said proudly. He rested his hands on Colt’s shoulders.
Colt turned to face him and pulled him into his arms. “Did I ever tell you how much I love you?”
“Not since this morning,” Mason teased.
Colt kissed him. How could he not? Mason’s lips were like an elixir that his soul needed like the air he needed to breathe. He was nothing without Mason, and soon, he’d make it permanent. More permanent than it was now, at any rate.Officialpermanent.
“Come on, let’s go before everyone starts to wonder where the host of the party is.” Colt laced his fingers with Mason’s, but he made no move to leave their bedroom.
“There’s an open bar. No one will notice if we arrive late,” Mason said, his voice velvety smooth as he rocked his hips forward.
Arousal coursed through Colt’s veins. His body was like putty when it came to Mason’s touch.
“I suppose we could be fashionably late.”
“That’s the spirit.” Mason grinned. His beautiful hazel eyes locked on Colt as he dropped to his knees, opened Colt’s jeans, and performed magic on him.
A little more than a half hour later, after shared orgasms, a quick cleanup, and their clothes set back to rights, they headed out for the event.
“What’s got you so distracted?” Mason asked as they exited the house, his hand firmly in Colt’s. “This isn’t the first fundraiser you’ve been to.”
“No,” Colt stalled. Up until now, he’d managed to keep his plans secret. Apart from his brothers, but they’d played their parts perfectly. Well, Levi had almost given it away a couple of times, but as far as he knew, Mason was none the wiser. “I just want this night to go well.”
Mason studied him for a few seconds. “It will.”
